I'm a Bookworm

image: wikipedia.org

This book was an interesting addition to Norwegian Wood, which is the only Murakami book I’d previously read. South of the Border follows Hajime during the course of his life from a 12 year old up to a man in his late 30s. It hilights his various love affairs with Shimamoto (his first crush), Izumi (his first girlfriend, whose heart he breaks), and Yukiko (his wife). His relationships with these three women ebb and flow, and follow him throughout his life.

It’s an interesting read, highly stylised and classy. I found several parallels in this book to Norwegian Wood. These include the middle class, unfulfilled ‘normal guy’ protagonist, the damaged woman he’s in love with, the healthy available woman who he’s comfortable with, but doesn’t want to stay with, and the ambiguous ending as to both the status of his relationships and his happiness.

Although Murakami is widely regarded as one of the best living writers, I don’t feel I relate well with his characters. He definitely captures the complexity of human relationships, and the modern situation of being middle class, comfortable and yet incomplete. However, the protagonists of his books strike me as a little too vacuous and very still. An author like Houellebecq writes about the same themes, but somehow, his isolated characters are engaging. Instead of another traditional novel, I’d be interested to read some of Murakami’s magical realism, like Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

–The Reader